At The Beginning

Any good book must draw the reader in from the very first line. I touched on this in my last blog and I want to explore that more.

The first line has a huge task in that it has to leave the reader feeling hungry for more.

Here’s some examples of where the first line of a book has done that for me…

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” – Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone, J.K. Rowling.

“They shouldn’t have been out on the snow.” – FrostHeart, Jamie Littler.

These first lines show the reader several things about the story. They let you know that there is the threat of change. In Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling is setting the Dursely’s up as the normal and any first time reader of the book will be able to guess that ‘the normal’ is about to be shattered.

In Frostheart, Jamie Littler makes us ask questions. Why shouldn’t they be on the snow? Who are they? What secrets are hiding beneath the snow? Raising these questions in the readers minds means they are drawn to need to read on to find the answers.

Activity – Recreate The Opening Line

Take a look at this blurb of The Care and Feeding of my Pet Black Hole, Michelle Cuevas.

Thinking about what makes an opening line work, have a go at writing your own opening line for this book.

It would be great to see some of these in the comments below if you feel like sharing and we can compare yours to the one Cuevas wrote.

Have a look at some of your other books and practice rewriting their opening lines too. What will make the reader desperate to read the next line?